noun · rare

flivver

flivver · flivvers

An automobile or cart, particularly one which is old and inexpensiveAn automobile or cart, particularly one which is old and inexpensive.

UK/ˈflɪv.ə(ɹ)/US/ˈflɪv.ɚ/

Meaning

3 senses

(Canada, US, colloquial, dated)An automobile or cart, particularly one which is old and inexpensive.
An automobile or cart, particularly one which is old and inexpensive.
(Canada, US, colloquial, dated)A Ford Model T.
(US, derogatory, historical, slang)A destroyer of the United States Navy with a displacement of less than 1,000 tons.

Origin

Unknown, early 20th c.. A book titled "At the Front in a Flivver" was published in 1917. C

Unknown, early 20th c.. A book titled "At the Front in a Flivver" was published in 1917. Cartoonist Tad Dorgan in 1919 claimed to have created the term in his comic strip Judge Rummy.

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